TechnoFILE's Automotive
Section

LINCOLN

Lincoln's new Navigator, redesigned for the 2018 model year, is a really nice vehicle for those looking for a motorhome-sized SUV that coddles with the best of 'em.

It isn't a motorhome, of course, just a reasonably conventional LARGE three row SUV for the luxury-minded buyer.

And it features the great new interior treatment I first saw on the company's Continental, though I don't believe it's identical to that one. I may be a voice barking in the wilderness, but I think these new Lincolns feature one of the best interior designs I've been in. In fact, if this interior keeps trickling across the Lincoln line to the little MKC (the smallest Lincoln SUV, which will apparently be renamed upon the debut of its next generation), they might have one of the most compelling interior lines in the business.

How do you cope with stupidly low speed limits, endless semi-trailers choking the two right lanes (even if there are only two), and drivers who seem to think that, because they're from the Centre of the Universe™, they have a right to drive as moronically and/or in others' faces as they want?

Oh, and how about the endless signs peppered over the roadsides cajoling you how to drive, how to live, how to do everything except drive distracted (because it appears to only be okay when it's the government doing the distracting)?

Well, you could try driving in a Lincoln. It won't make the drive better, but it can certainly make it a lot more pleasant. more...

One is the sportiest version of Ford's mainstream mid-size sedan, while the other's Lincoln's variation on the theme. So, when it comes to a choice between the Fusion Sport and the Lincoln MKZ, which is the better car?

Waffle time (syrup, anyone?)! As is so often the case, the answer is a clear "it depends." Mostly, it depends on your budget, I suppose, because the loaded Ford Fusion sport Ford loaned me to wring out for a week is priced at $42,388 (sans taxes, etc.) while the MKZ stickered for $59,300. That's a pretty big spread for what beneath the surface are two cars who share a lot of their DNA. more...

If you're looking for a compact or mid-sized crossover from Ford but want something a little more exclusive, Lincoln just may have what you're seeking.

The MKC and MKX, which are up market versions of the Ford Escape and Edge, respectively, are both comfortable and luxurious vehicles that drive well and will coddle your bones nicely. I spent a week in each of these vehicles recently and came away quite impressed. I think they'd be even more impressive if the manufacturer would integrate more completely the terrific new interior found in the excellent Continental, but in the meantime you get a better and nicer Ford for a not-too-unreasonable premium over the garden variety Fords.

My favourite of the two is the MKC, for the mere reason that it's more a size I like. It isn't hard to see the Escape under the surface, but the MKC manages to Escape its more mainstream brother by adding a more attractive body style and a bunch of luxury and creature touches designed to raise this vehicle's premium profile - which it does quite well.

The MKX is to the Edge as the MKC is to the Escape, and of course there's nothing wrong with that. Lincoln Canada's sample also carried the "Reserve" designation, with a starting price of $52,000 CAD, which isn't a lot more than the MKC considering how much extra material is required to expand the vehicle from compact to midsize (I wonder if they have big stretching machines at the factory). more...

It doesn't wallow, nor does it feel like a car my grandfather would drive. In fact, it looks as if Lincoln has thrown down a gauntlet with the 2017 Continental, announcing to the world that the famed marque is not only back, but capable of taking on the competitors head to head.

When was the last time you read that about a Lincoln Continental?

It's something I had never written before, let alone thought. Oh, I liked the MKZ I drove last fall a lot, but as nice as it was it still felt like a "gussied up" Fusion (which it is, really), whereas after spending a week in the grand new Continental I came away excited for the future of the famed nameplate, which had kind of gone to sleep as a major luxury brand.

Remember Lincoln? Ford's high end division used to be out front - whether as luxury limo-type vehicles such as the Continental, "hot rods" of song, and even the original 1960's TV Batmobile, which was really a Lincoln under the skin.

Whatever happened? Lincoln is still around, but today their vehicles are basically gussied up Fords - not that there's anything inherently wrong with that. But it seems to me that the high end vehicles should be the state-of-the-art ones, with their stuff trickling down to their lesser brands. This is how companies like Lexus have done it traditionally - stuff that began life on the top line vehicles, even such currently "pedestrian" features such as traction control, ABS and airbags, have made their way down the market and can now be found on the "lowly" Toyotas.

Ford may be looking at changing this reverse trickle down thing, starting with the upcoming Continental that looks very interesting indeed, but in the meantime we have vehicles such as the MKZ that's under discussion here. At heart, it's a Fusion - again, not that there's anything wrong with that - that has been, well, enhanced. And it's enhanced very nicely for the most part. more...

You could call the Lincoln MKZ hybrid a kind of multifunction device. It's not only a pretty nice car in its own right, but its maker appears to have designed it to appeal not only to what could be - perhaps unkindly - considered its traditional audience, but those whose bent tends more toward curve carving as well.

It's an interesting tightrope walk. Within a few minutes of having first picked up Lincoln Canada's MKZ hybrid, I hated driving it. It was so darn soft - I read somewhere once that it's as if the car "nods agreeably" when it goes over road irregularities - and it also felt as if it would flip over onto its roof the first time I took it to an off-ramp. It had been a while since I drove a car that rubbed me the wrong way so quickly.

Ah, but once I got the car home and started messing with its settings, I discovered a Sports mode that made it not merely acceptable as a driver's vehicle, but quite nice. more...

If you've been wondering where Lincoln has gone, you may not be alone.

The company is still around, of course - it has never gone away - but in recent years it seems to have developed a low profile that's only now being raised thanks to new products such as this little SUV, the MKC. And if my week in the version that sports the larger of the two engines offered is any indication, they've come up with a real winner in the "cute ute" market niche.

The MKC shares a lot of its underwear with the current Ford Escape, which isn't a bad place to start. more...

If the Lincoln MKT is any example, the Ford Motor Company is being quite successful in the return from its near-death experience. It's a technologically advanced vehicle that's also good to drive and will carry an abundance of people and/or stuff.

Okay, the exterior looks a bit like a giant steam clothes iron, with its pointed prow and "split waterfall grille", broad flanks and relatively flat butt (the latter of which I can merely aspire to!), but once you get past that – if you can – you'll discover a very nice vehicle. more...

Lincoln's new full size sedan is packed with all kinds of nifty features and offers good performance. But is it enough to bring in new customers to the famous brand? I don't know. What I do know is that after a week driving the all wheel drive version of the MKS I found myself a tad underwhelmed.

It was the little things, because when it comes to the big things, this car seems to have it right. It's attractive, has more than enough power, is comfortable and comes with enough creature comforts to comfort most creatures. more....